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A review by sriyasbooks
Poonachi: Or the Story of a Black Goat by Perumal Murugan
4.0
What a strange, wonderful little fable. I started reading this on a whim but ended up enjoying it for what it is (3.5 stars, rounded up). It's a short and simple story of a little orphaned, runt-of-the-litter, black goat named Poonachi, but that doesn't mean it is sweet. Poonachi goes through a lot of trauma and pain in her brief life, and it was an interesting perspective to consider an animal only raised for continuous breeding and slaughter (definitely makes me want to go full vegetarian too). It's also surprisingly adult, with Poonachi's descriptions (not graphic, but they are there) of sex, what seems like sexual harassment, and seemingly rape. The book also swears, which was also interesting when pared with the simple tone of a fable.
The most interesting part to me is the casual cruelty Poonachi experiences from people that care for her and love her, from the couple that takes care of her, to playmates as a child, to the general public, and from everyone. The book also speaks out on the commercialization of (seemingly) human lives, and the casual and random brutality of life and the people that live it. I also enjoyed that only the goat characters are named, with the main two human caretakers just being called the old man and the old woman. It's a new perspective, that's for sure.
For a very short book, it's surprisingly dense with themes and characters, and I did enjoy it. Pacing is a bit slow, but it seems more like a character study than anything. I love that this took place in the villages of Tamil Nadu, and that the book was even translated from Tamil into English. Knowing some of their experiences from my own is a bit of a new experience from a book, not gonna lie. I did end up caring about Poonachi and all the other characters too. In general, I'm just glad I decided to pick this up I guess.
The most interesting part to me is the casual cruelty Poonachi experiences from people that care for her and love her, from the couple that takes care of her, to playmates as a child, to the general public, and from everyone. The book also speaks out on the commercialization of (seemingly) human lives, and the casual and random brutality of life and the people that live it. I also enjoyed that only the goat characters are named, with the main two human caretakers just being called the old man and the old woman. It's a new perspective, that's for sure.
For a very short book, it's surprisingly dense with themes and characters, and I did enjoy it. Pacing is a bit slow, but it seems more like a character study than anything. I love that this took place in the villages of Tamil Nadu, and that the book was even translated from Tamil into English. Knowing some of their experiences from my own is a bit of a new experience from a book, not gonna lie. I did end up caring about Poonachi and all the other characters too. In general, I'm just glad I decided to pick this up I guess.